Consulate
by gega.cai
Summary: One Shot. John Connor knows his enemy. Which mission is Cameron's true mission?


**Title:** Consulate  
**Author:** gega cai  
**Pairings:** John Connor, Cameron  
**Rating:** PG  
**Warnings: None  
Summary:** John Connor knows his enemy. Which mission is Cameron's true mission?  
**Disclaimer:** Characters and other likely inventive scenarios based on the world created by James Cameron, William Wisher Jr., and Josh Friedman.

**Author's Note:** Fic takes place between the Four Horsemen's disappearance and when Cameron was sent back. I'm assuming Cameron was sent back around the time everyone else was. I'm probably wrong about that, though (??)

**Consulate**  
by gega cai

"Where have you been?"

The figure of a small woman paused mid-stride. She turned to face the general, John Connor, who had stepped out from a newly appointed meeting room. He was not looking at her, though. The papers in his hand seemed more important. He saw her pass the room, yet his mind was still on the matter at hand. In fact, he knew where she had been. But she, a machine, did not know he knew anything.

"One of the teams did not return. Based on their past missions and success rate, the team's return was anticipated--"

John interrupted it, "You thought you could find them and bring them back?"

The machine analyzed John's speech and body language. It determined that he may not believe her lie. The machine stood feet a part and arms to the side. Her hand-me-down Resistance uniform was one size too big. John, however, filled out his general fatigues. He was tall, lean, but built. He was built for the war long before this machine had ever existed.

"I know the horsemen are gone. I already have others looking for them. You were needed elsewhere and abandoned your mission. You're no good to me if you do not follow orders," John did not wait to hear its response and rejoined his generals in the meeting room.

The machine stood for only a moment before resuming its destination deep into the bunker.

- - - - -

John peered over the blue prints and intelligence reports in front of him. Ten years had gone by and all that he had worked hard for, all the lives lost to get to what he was planning to do at this moment was not lost on John. His mother's face flashed in his mind; Sarah: jaw clenched and relentless, as ever, even in his mind. He smiled at the memory of her.

"Skynet's communication grid has been breached. I will need another 48 hours to cycle through the system for any discrepancies," the machine announced as it entered John's quarters. John casually looked up at the machine and nodded. It stood there for several moments, waiting. This was a recent characteristic it had picked up since it had been reprogrammed. It was quicker at mimicking human traits than the other machines. For as complex and dynamic as the machines were, he loathed them. He knew the enemy and was often amazed by it but he refused to be fooled. Never again.

"What is it, Cameron?" John asked impatiently.

"The defense grid: I can access it."

There it was, John thought. He wanted to smirk at the damn thing. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and asserted, "No, you've done well. Dyson and his team will take care of the defense grid. You have another mission."

"The defense grid is crucial. Without disabling Skynet's defenses, the war will continue even if you breach the core."

John knew this and stared blankly, which was met with _her_ own cold stare. With a hint of sarcasm, he replied, "That is correct, Cameron. _Thank you for explaining._"

John watched the machine as it cycled through possible responses and plausible actions. Cameron was only a few seconds delayed in responding, but John could see that the machine had not foreseen his lack of interest in Cameron's abilities to defeat Skynet.

"You are welcome. I can start sequencing the grid now--"

John interrupted, "No, Cameron. You have your orders. Report back in 24 hours. I have another matter that needs attention. Do not leave the bunker again. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand," she responded. The machine left the general to his thoughts, which had quickly been removed of her existence.

John slid a piece of paper in front of him that had been peeking out of a thick file on the table. The paper was a simple debriefing of an abandoned search and rescue attempt when the lost Resistance fighter had inexplicably escaped from Skynet on his own. The attached, low-res image of Kyle Reese's face stared back at him from the paper.

- - - - -

"What was the briefing about? Lieutenant Reese did not seem happy when I brought him to you. But, his attitude and demeanor have changed since the meeting," Cameron asked as she looked down at John. He was repairing Cameron's lower back, which had been damaged by a renegade machine.

"Nothing has changed. Derek is still unhappy. He has been given a new mission and he believes he can change things," John replied. The shrapnel had been removed and he was working to reattach wires and replace mechanisms that had been warped in the struggle. "I need more light," he said gritting his teeth as he pulled.

"He feels the same, but now he has hope?"

John nodded and sighed relief as a piece of the machine became loose. Using pliers, he removed the piece and it dropped onto the table surface with a loud clunk. "Unfortunately, we all have our part in this," John explained as he reached for an identical part from a row of labeled bins.

The machine watched him as he turned the part over in his fingers checking for any defects. Without questioning, he handed it over to the machine. With one glance, she handed it back to John. It was an acceptable replacement.

"You are referring to what people think is fate: Everyone and everything having a purpose or destination in their life. You don't think Lieutenant Reese can change anything? How would he be able to change anything that has been done?"

The sound of mechanisms resisting John as he worked hummed inside of Cameron. The machine looked ahead, waiting for John to complete his task before answering. Finally, a clenching sound of metal on metal made the machine turn its head back at John, who was now suturing the cybernetic living tissue.

John smiled, "Why are you asking me that when you know the answer?"

The machine took a beat to process the question before responding, "Hypothetically, he could change the past and our present when he goes through the Time Displacement Sphere. That is why Skynet created the technology."

"Maybe he will. Maybe Skynet will."

"You should send me back. I can protect you."

John smiled and shook his head incredulously.

- - - - -

John Connor watched a room fill with electrical lightning from the other side of a glass wall. This was the fourth and, unfortunately, not the last of who or what would be going across time today.

Below, in the electrified room, the small figure of a nude girl kneeling on one knee had not taken her eyes off of the general. Suddenly, a transparent sphere encased the girl. The sensors read that the air outside the sphere had jumped 30 degrees hotter, yet inside the girl was calm. She felt nothing. She did not panic or react to the physical assault the technology was having on her body like others had.

Cameron sensed the crushing of the space around her, which was the affect of air inside the sphere being vacuumed. Nothing else could go through time unless the technology had been instructed to do so. The air was being pushed out by the transparent sphere, which was now taking on a mercurial shell. The technology did not account for comfort. People that had pass through time in the sphere were nearly suffocated and crushed to death by the split second the technology took to displace them into the past.

With John's figure now obscured by the mercurial shell, Cameron lowered her head and waited for the sphere to dissipate.

The room below the observation deck glowed and then went dark. Silence. The machine had gone through. John turned to the operator and he nodded. The jump was successful.

John ignored the enthusiastic salutes as he exited the room and continued through several corridors in what was Skynet's outer core. John and the Resistance may have won the war in this time, but there was more to be done. He knew that the past needed supplies, soldiers, and information to defeat a war Skynet was waging across time. By sending back his family, friends, and protectors, he was ensuring the defeat of Skynet then and now. All of Skynet had to be destroyed, though. The general knew what Cameron's mission really was. Unfortunately, his younger self would have to learn the hard way as he had.


End file.
